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WG: She was saying, ’Oh, he’s just this really fine white boy I want you to meet.’ And I thought, ’Oh, please, Jackie, stop.’

BG: You know, when I went to Bradley, um, I knew two African Americans in, in my life, and that was Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. So it was different…

TG: When did you think it was time to tell your parents?

WG: Well, I had, my mom and I were very close, so I called her right away when I met him. But, I didn’t mention anything about race. I just said I had met somebody, so I just left it at that.

BG: As far as my family’s reaction, I guess probably, at the best it was considered a death in the family.

WG: They wanted me to stop seeing daddy, and, uh, I think at that point they had… Had they disowned you?

BG: Pretty much…

WG: My mother’s reaction was like, ’Well, do you think we’re excited about it?’ And then my dad was like, ’Well, they’re gonna do what wanna do and I got to go to work.’

BG: The coolest people in our whole family were Nona and Aunt Zia, because they had experienced racial discrimination as Italians. And they could only live on the west end of town. To them it really wasn’t as big a deal as it was to the next generation that was born in the United States and had grown up and, and not experienced that discrimination that they had.

WG: Yeah.

BG: Mm-hm.

WG: But I must say, once I became pregnant, Brad’s mom just stepped up to the plate. You were the first grandchild and once you were born, that’s when everything turned around.

BG: You know seeing a child, or seeing a grandchild, they see themselves. This is just not Willa and I having a relationship; they’re part of you. And you’re part of them. So now they understand: this is blood, you know, this is family.